Bodyweight Exercises For Strength?

Some people
doubt they can use bodyweight exercises for strength gains. They
shouldn't. Here's why.

I often find
myself surfing the net, scouring various forums and obscure web sites
in an effort to learn more about fitness and health. When I do so,
however, I'm often surprised how often I run into the opinion that bodyweight
exercises are great for building endurance, but not
strength. This is demonstrably not
true. As I point out elsewhere on
this site, how do animals such as Gorilla's or Chimpanzee's develop
their amazing strength and power? They never lift weights, yet they
posses astounding strength and power. Yes, the answer often comes back,
but that is different.
The muscles that animals posses are somehow
"different" than human muscles, etc. I doubt this (muscle is muscle),
but for the sake of argument let's accept it for the time
being. Instead, let's consider the example of one of the most "animal
like" athletes I'm aware of. Namely, the Gymnast.

Every Four
Years ...

Every four years it happens like clockwork. Bodybuilders and fitness
types (not to mention the general public) all marvel at the amazing
physiques and physical abilities of the Olympic Gymnasts. To a man (and
woman) they all posses huge, muscular arms, broad shoulders, tiny
waists, etc. How do they get this way? I read an interview with a
gymnastics coach. This is how he explained it.

The Secret of the Gymnasts

First of all, explained this coach,
Gymnasts NEVER lift weights. They
use bodyweight exercises for all of their training. So, how are they
able to acquire those killer biceps if they never lift a barbell? The
secret, this coach said, is all the straight arm leverage work that
gymnasts perform with their own bodyweight. Think of it this way. Let's
say you have a plank that is supported at either end so that the middle
is off the ground. If you rest a weight in the middle of the plank, how
much weight can it hold while remaining straight? It really depends on
how long the plank is. A short plank can hold a weight and remain
straight no problem. If you make the plank longer it may be able to
still support the weight, but it will start to droop in the middle. If
you want the longer plank to remain straight, you have to strengthen it
considerably.

The Iron Cross

When Gymnasts use bodyweight exercises for their training like the Iron
Cross, this is essentially what they are doing. Forced to keep their
arms straight, the muscles in the arms and chest are put under
tremendous strain, resulting in incredible gains in strength, size, and
endurance. By moving the body without bending the joints, you're
increasing the length of the lever, magnifying the intensity of the
exercise.

Gymnasts VS WeightLifters

This is why Gymnasts posses such incredible strength. One of the
exercises a Gymnast does is called a Planche. This is essentially a
pushup position held with the feet off the floor. The coach pointed out
that he has known gymnasts who can do blanche pushups perform double
their bodyweight bench presses on their first attempts no problem.
However, a weight lifter who can bench press double his own weight is
never able to perform a planche pushup. (Planche Pushups are an
extremely advanced body weight exercise. Here's a video below to show
you exactly what they are.)

Other Advantages of Body Weight Exercises

The Gymnastic Coach didn't put these out, but here are some other
reasons gymnasts train with bodyweight exercises for endurance,
flexibility and strength.

When you perform body weight exercises like hindu
squats and hindu
pushups, you are working all of the major muscle
groups as a unit. This is how nature intended the muscles to work. The
weightlifter trains his body using isolation movements. This is
un-natural.

As "natural" movements, bodyweight workouts
require a deeper level of self-concentration. When you focus on
yourself, the neurological connections are stronger which leads to a
much more intensive workout.

Bodyweight training allows you to work your
body from virtually any angle or position. The same cannot be
said of weights, and this goes double for exercise machines.

Bodyweight training simultaneously increase
strength, endurance, and flexibility. Hindu Squats and Hindu Pushups
are perfect examples of this. You just don't get this kind of workout
with weights.

Body weight Exercises attack the muscle at a
deeper level than weights, giving you a greater "functional strength".
Another example of this (besides my Planche pushup example above) is an
individual who does pullups vs another individual who uses the lat
pulldown machine. The person doing the pullups can easily use the
machine. Again, the reverse is not true.

In Conclusion
...

If you doubt the whole animal thing as far as demonstrating the
benefits of bodyweight exercises, consider the gymnast. They use
bodyweight exercises for endurance, flexibility and MASSIVE STRENGTH
gains. If this kind of training interests you, I would recommend you
start with exercises like Hindu
Pushups and Hindu
Squats (The Planche
Pushup is pretty advanced, especially for the beginner - but if you can
do it, all the power to you), as well as some of the other exercises
outlined in my book "Natural Fitness". You'll get amazingly strong in
no time, just like the gymnasts.

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